Canada To-day and To-morrow

by Arthur E. Copping

Mr. Tyrrell reported that the country is generally forested, though most of the timber is small black spruce and tamarack. Banksia pine forms thin, parklike woods on the sandy plains. In places berries grow in great profusion, chief among them being the common huckleberry and the small cranberry. The former thrives in the deciduous woods along the Churchill River, while the latter covers the dry slopes from the Saskatchewan northward. The blue huckleberry is found on the banks of Cree and Stone Rivers, but the bushes did not seem anywhere to bear much fruit. The raspberry occurs on the richer ground by some of the streams. The yellow swampberry is found abundantly in the moss of the wet spruce and tamarack swamps. On drier land towards the north he found the crowberry, while the Pembina berry grows in the deciduous woods beside the streams, especially in the southern portion of the district.

A CORNER OF MONTREAL HARBOUR, SKETCHED FROM CUSTOMS HOUSE

These explorers saw the moose, the barren ground caribou, the Canadian lynx, the grey wolf, red, black and cross foxes, the wolverine and the skunk. The black bear roams over the whole country. A few beavers may still be met with in many of the streams. The rabbit or American hare is found everywhere in the denser woods. Porcupines are plentiful around Cree Lake, and in those portions of the sandy country that have not recently been hunted over by Indians.

“The time at our disposal,” said Mr. Tyrrell, “did not permit us to make a close examination of the birds seen, but, generally speaking, except along the banks of the Churchill River, where ducks breed in great numbers, birds are not at all numerous in the district explored.” Coveys of ruffled grouse and spruce partridge were found in the thicker woods everywhere. A few snowy owls and bald-headed eagles were observed. Fish seemed to be everywhere abundant in the lakes and streams.

“The number of Indians who live in and travel through the country, obtaining a precarious existence by hunting and fishing, is,” we learn from Mr. Tyrrell, “very small.”

To quote another authority, Professor John Macoun (the well-known naturalist of the Geological Survey) said: “There can be no question about the value of the land north of the Saskatchewan, and settlers going in there are assured of three essentials—wood, water, and hay—for cattle. . . . The low altitude and the long day are fixed conditions.”

With reference to altitude, I may point out that Prince Albert is nearly five hundred feet lower than Regina, and that the Lac la Rouge district is two hundred and sixty feet lower than Prince Albert. Regarding the duration of sunlight, a careful record was made, over a period of four months, as to the relative length of day in the district under consideration, at Prince Albert and at Ottawa. Taking a date at random (June 20th), the figures were, respectively, 17 hours 30 minutes, 16 hours 42 minutes, and 15 hours 26 minutes.

In conclusion, let me briefly refer to the experiences of Mr. Frank J. P. Crean, who was specially commissioned to explore, in 1908 and 1909, the huge areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta lying north of surveyed limits. Mr. Crean reports that those northern countries are “capable of producing large quantities of cereals and farm produce and of supporting a large population. The over-abundance of water and lack of natural drainage, causing large swamps and muskegs, might, in my opinion, be easily remedied by clearing out some of the rapids on the Churchill River and providing outlets for the surplus water where natural outlets are lacking. Very little work would be necessary to open fine waterways navigable for small craft throughout the country. . . . The climate seems well adapted for raising any cereals. In fact, wherever wheat has been tried it has been grown successfully. . . . I would estimate that an area of fully 5,000,000 acres is suitable for settlement as soon as surveyed and made accessible by roads; and an area of about 12,000,000 acres of swamps, or land probably too wet at present for successful cultivation, could be reclaimed at a moderate expenditure. . . . In the south-easterly portion the soil is good, being a light loam, with a blue clay subsoil; towards the west the land is light loam with a sandy clay subsoil. . . . Of course the winter is cold, but not any colder nor longer than the winter in some of the settled portions of Saskatchewan. In August, 1908, a frost occurred almost all over the settled parts of Saskatchewan, but did not apparently affect the northern portion which I explored. . . . I was at Portage la Loche on September 17th, and the potato tops were not frozen in the least. The garden was also quite untouched. Cabbages, carrots, parsnips, etc., all looked well.”

Everywhere Mr. Crean found an abundance of hay. In places the meadows were small, but always numerous. Among the chief birds he saw were swans, geese, ducks, partridges, gulls, jays, kingfishers, crows, robins and loons. He noticed that the staple food of the native north of the Saskatchewan is fish, with which he is abundantly provided. “North of the Churchill,” Mr. Crean reported, “lies a district of great promise from a mineral point of view.” Finally, we learn, “there are many points where a large amount of water power could be developed.”